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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

QUICHE. It's honestly one of my favorite foods. So much that I really don't make it that often because I'm inclined to eat half of it when I do. But a couple weeks ago, I won two free product coupons from Wholly Wholesome (at Leslie Loves Veggies) to promote their current pie recipe contest. Free organic pie shells? YES PLEASE.

4 strips vegetarian bacon (I used the Lightlife stuff I got to review)

1 cup mozzarella cheese

6 oz mushrooms, stemmed and chopped

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed (or 8 oz fresh spinach)

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 Tb. flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 eggs

6 oz evaporated milk*

*Apparently organic evaporated milk doesn't exist so I had to make my own, using these instructions. I started with 2 1/2 cups milk and ended with 1 cup (8 oz) evaporated. It took me about an hour.

Thaw pie shell at room temperature for 20 minutes. Poke holes in the bottom and sides of the shell to vent. Pre-bake at 450F for 5 minutes. If the crust still puffs up despite the holes, don't panic or do anything drastic! Give it a couple minutes to cool and it may go down on its own. If not, gently push the crust back into shape.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. Add mushrooms and onions and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to wilt. If using fresh spinach, cook at this time as well.

Cook "bacon" strips in a skillet, 4 minutes on each side, until crispy. After "bacon" has cooled, crumble into bite-sized pieces.

Combine mushrooms, onions, spinach, and "bacon" in a large bowl. Add flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and toss. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Add egg mixture and cheese to mushroom mixture.

Pour into pre-baked pie shell. Bake at 350F for 45-60 minutes, or until eggs are cooked completely (check with a toothpick).

Excellent. That's exactly what this quiche is. This was the first time I added the "bacon". The original recipe had real bacon so when I became vegetarian, I just left it out. But the "bacon" added a nice flavor and texture. I didn't like eating the "bacon" by itself (I tried it) so I wouldn't eat it for breakfast...but as an addition to meals for flavor and texture, it's awesome.

And for you non-vegetarians, try it! Seriously. I won't say that it's the same as real bacon (because it's not) but inside a quiche like this, it's hardly noticeable. Plus, each "bacon" slice is 20 calories with 1g of fat! One of the easiest way to cut calories and fat in meals is to use meat substitutes when it doesn't really matter.

I'm currently reassessing my meals. I know that sounds weird but to be the cheapest possible, I eat pretty much the same thing each day of the week. It's cost effective and it's easy to make sure that I eat a balanced diet. But after a couple of months, it gets boring. And lately my breakfast has stopped filling me up! : ( I'm thinking about adding a green monster somewhere in my day for energy...but I'm worried about the price of 2 cups of organic spinach a day. We'll see. Any suggestions?

Do you ever reassess your nutrition? I think it needs to be done as often as possible to avoid boredom. It makes eating healthy more fun!